Stealing into her bedchamber while her mother had left the room at midnight, the young farmhand committed a terrible double crime. A tragic murder and awful suicide occurred in Clearwater, Nebraska on January 16, 1905, when Andrew Nelson, a young farmhand of 20 years, enraged with a frenzied jealousy, crept into the sleeping room of Carrie Jacobson, an 18-year old girl and the object of his devotion, fired a heavy charge from his shotgun into her helpless sleeping form and then, before members of the family could arrive, turned the still smoking gun upon himself and blew his own head off.

The dead bodies of the young woman, murdered in cold blood, and of the young man, guilty of two crimes, were found fearfully lacerated by the terrible wounds, a moment later.

Increased tragedy is added to the horrible affair by the fact that the mother of the murdered girl had been sleeping with her during the night and had left the room a moment before to get coal for the fire. She was down in the cellar for the coal. Noting the absence of the mother, Andrew softly descended the stairs, his murderous shotgun in hand, quietly entered the room and in an instant, had killed the young woman asleep in the darkness, blowing the top of her head off. When later he shot his own head off, the bits of skull and brains were blown all over the room and on the walls. The scene was a sickening one.

Jealousy is given as the sole cause. Andrew had been working on the Jacobson farm for two years past. The farm is about seven miles from Neligh, near Clearwater, at a point known as Grecian Bend. The body of the girl was found in bed, the top of her head blown to pieces. The body of the man was found lying in the doorway, his head entirely off.

The bodies still lie where they were discovered and await the coroner's inquest. The coroner lives at Orchard and has been notified.

It is evident from facts which developed that Andrew had murder in his mind a week ago. At that time, he is said to have gone to the school house where the girl was, with a shotgun all loaded. He was desperately in love with the girl, who had rejected him a number of times and who had no more to do with him than was absolutely necessary. Andrew had been driven away from the home repeatedly and had been allowed to return through pity each time. At parties, he always manifested jealousy and insisted on the girl's going home earlier than the others. The girl was afraid.

Last night, the girl was afraid of him and when she wanted to go downstairs to sleep with her mother, she was afraid to go past the door of Andrew alone. She called her mother who came upstairs and accompanied her daughter to the room below.